Air cleaner



April 25, 1939. w SHAW 2,155,911

AIR CLEANER Filed Nov. 23, 1937 Patented Apr. 25, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT...

ori-ice This invention relates to air cleaners for carbureters and particularly to' cleaners designed for removing dust and other foreign matter from the air entering a carbureter, and the general object" of the invention is to provide 'a very simple and improved device for this purpose, which isso constructed as to prevent dust-laden air from being agitated at the point where the air leaves the cleaner to pass into the carbureter.

Another object is to provide a structure of this character having a screen so disposed that splashing. mud or driving rain will not strike the intake of the cleaner and foul it, and a further object in this connection is to provide a cleaner of this character with a receiving chamber having a .screened air inlet opening on its underface so that this opening is protected from being clogged by foreign matter or by mud.

A still further object is to provide astructure of this character which embodies a receiving chamber, an air circulating chamber or cyclone,

in which the air entering the cleaner is whirled downward by gravity and eventually be dis-1' charged into a receptacle. Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the, accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an'air cleaner con- ;Fig. '7 is a fragmentary section on the line 1-1 of- Fig. 6; 1

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical section through the external and internal cones and the dust r'e- I ceptacle;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary vertical section of a modified construction of the external and internal cones. I

"Referring to the drawing, l0 designates a cas- -ing having a screen [i onits underface. This casing has a side wall l2 and an end wall 53. The

ting the internal cone, yet I do notwishto be the carbureter and thus the screen H is disposed side wall I2 is curved and merges into the peripheral wall I4 of'a cyclone chamber 15, which extends downward'from the wall l2. Centrally disposed within the chamber I5 is an air outletv pipe |6 which at its upper end opens into a passageway I], which in' turn, as clearly shown in Fig, 7, opens into the vertical pipe "l8 and exl' tends down to the air intake ofvthev carbureter. The pipe It, as shown best in Figs. 3 and4, is formed at its lower end with a laterally disposed =10 downwardly extending lip l9 constituting a shield, Extending around the central pipe IB- in a spiral course is a spiral partition 20. This extends through nearly a complete turn and discharges at the lower end of the chamber l4 and at a point I behind the lip or extension l9. a Extending downward from the peripheral wall 14 of the chamber I5 is a cone-2| having a small opening 22 in its lower end. Attached tothe cone 2| and extending downward therefrom is an annular support 23 which supports a receptacle 24 at the lower end of the "cone, this receptacle being for the purposeof gathering the dust. Disposed within the cone 2| is an inner cone 25, which tapers upwardly and-has its apex disposed above the lower end of the lip l9 but below the plane of the greater portion of the, lower end of pipe Hi. This cone 25is supported on the cone 2| in spaced relation thereto by a plurality of supports 26 so that a slight space is left between the periphery of the internal cone 25 and the'wall of the external cone 2| for the passage of dust into vthe lower end of the cone 2|.

.While this is the preferable manner of disposlimited to this, and in Fig. 9, I show an internal cone 21 which tapers downwardly and has its wall arranged inparallel spaced relation to the wall of the cone 2|. The lower end of the cone 21 in Fig, 9 is open at 28 and the annals supported by a plurality of supporting elements 29 in spaced relation to the wall of the cone 2|;

The operation of this device will be obvious. I The pipe l8 extends downward to the intake of on the underside of the receiving chamber l0. Under the sucking action of the engine air is drawn in past the screen into the receiving chamber, l0, then into the outer-end of this receiving chamber just above the chamber 15. It is thendrawn downward through the spiral passageway defined by the spiral wall 2|! and is discharged into the upper end of ,the cone 2|. It will be noticed that the air is discharged toward the downwardly extending lip i9, so that the air but must pass around .the lip before it can enter the pipe I6. This prevents the air with the dust from passing directly up the pipe 5 and permits the dust to settle onto the cone 2| and thus pass downward through the aperture in the bottom of this cone to the dust collecting receptacle 24. If dust collects upon the internal cone 25, the inclination of the wall of this cone will cause the dust to move downward by gravity and pass'between the lower edge of cone 25 and cone 2| into the lower end of cone 2| and through the passageway in the lower end of this cone into the receptacle 24'. In the structure shown in Fig. 9, dust will pass down from the wall of cone 2| through the space between the interior cone 2'! and the wall 2|, or it will be discharged onto the interior face of cone 2'! and then be discharged into the lower end of cone 2|.

It will be seen that there are no moving parts in my construction. The dust is separated from the air through centrifugal action and by the partial vacuum caused by the pull of the motor. The dust is deposited in a glass receptacle which is easily detached for cleaning.

Air cleaners operating on the general principle of mine have been used for many years, but my improved air cleaner extracts extremely fine dust from the air, even dust as fine as the dust from vegetable matter.

It is to be noted that the cone 25 is disposed well down within the cone 2| both in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9. This allows full and free action of the centrifugal force of the air as it passes around cone 2|, yet allows the dust to pass between the cone 2| and the interior cone 25 into a quiet or non-turbulent space where the dust can settle tating the air which is entering the mouth of the central pipe IS. The cone 25 (or cone 21,) prevents the force of the air from disturbing the dust that has passed between the outer and inner cones, thus permitting the dust to fall freely into the dust collecting jar. The screen II is relatively coarse'and is only intended to keep out straw or other large'objects. By reason of the fact that this screen or the intake formed thereby is on the lower or bottom side of the casing Hi, there is no chance of splashing mud or driving rain striking this intake and fouling the cleaner as is the case where the intake is on the side or top of the receiving chamber.

I have illustrated the pipe |8 as extending downward from'the casing l0, but I do not wish to be limited to this inasmuch as this pipe l8 might extend in any direction from the 'duct either upward, downward or laterally.

While I have heretofore described this invention as particularly adapted and intended for separating dustand other foreign particles from the air entering a carbureter, it is to be understood that this mechanism might be used in any place where air cleaning is desirable as, for instance, for auction cleaning devices or for air compressors and other pieces of apparatus.

What is claimed:-

1. An air cleaner for the purpose described, having an air receiving chamber provided with an air opening a circular chamber into which the receiving chamber opens and having therein a centrally disposed pipe open at its lower end, a spiral wall within the circular chamber defining a spiral downwardly leading passageway becannot pass directly upward through the pipe l6,

tween the wall of the chamber and the central pipe, is downwardly contracted cone forming a downward extension of the circular chamber and having a relatively small discharge opening at its lower end, said pipe extending into and having its lower end below the plane of the top of said cone, a receptacle receiving the material discharged through said cone, a second cone disposed entirely within the first cone and mounted in spaced relation thereto, and'an air conducting pipe leading to a carbureter and communicatively connected to the outlet end of the first-named centrally disposed pipe.

2. An air cleaner for the purpose described, having an air receiving chamber provided with a downwardly directed air inlet in its bottom, a circular chamber into which the receiving chamber opens tangentially, the circular chamber extending downward from thereceiving chamber, a centrally disposed air outlet pipe extending downward through the circular chamber, a spiral wall defining a downwardly leading spiral passageway between the wall of the circular chamber and said pipe, the pipe at its lower end being below thelower end of the spiral passageway and having a downwardly extending lip on one side and the discharge opening of said pasageway being on the same side as said lip, a downwardly tapering hollow cone forming an extension of the circular chamber and having a relatively small discharge opening at its lower end, a receptacle detachably engaged with the lower portion of said cone and into which the cone discharges, a second cone disposed entirely within the first-named cone and mounted in spaced relation thereto, the said pipe having its lower end within said hollow cone and an air conducting pipe leading to a carbureter and communicatively connected'to the outlet end of the first-named centrally disposed pipe.

3. An air cleaner for the purpose described, having an air receiving chamber provided with a screen in its bottom, a circular chamber into which the receiving chamber opens and having therein a centrally disposed pipe open at its lower end, means defining a spiral passageway between the wall of the chamber and the central pipe, a downwardly contracted cone extending downward from the circular chamber and having a relatively small discharge opening at its lower 'cone, and an air conducting pipe leading to the carbureter and communicatively connected to the outlet end of the first-named centrally disposed pipe.

4. An air cleaner, comprising an air receiving receptacle having an air inlet opening in its underside, a cylindrical vertically, disposed chamber having an air inlet leading thereinto tangentially from said air receptacle, a downwardly tapering hollow cone extending fromandforming a continuation of the lower part of said cylinder, said cone having its apex open for the escape of dust, a pipe 7 disposed co'-axially of and within said cylinder and having its lower end extending into said cone and tapering at one side to a downwardly extending lip, means within the cylinder forming a downwardly extending spiral path between the wall of the cylinder and said pipe, said spiral path terminating above the open lower end of the pipe and adjacent the side of the pipe from of the second mentioned cone, and an air conducting pipe having communication at one end with the upper end of the first mentioned pipe and adapted to have its other end connected with the air intake of a carburetor.

WILLIAM A. SHAW. 

